US President Biden Pressures Israel on Ceasefire
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – U.S. President Joe Biden pressured Israel Wednesday to end its military actions even though the Jewish state faced rockets fired by Hamas militants from Gaza.
In a call Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the U.S. president said he expected “significant de-escalation” by day’s end.
Biden’s warning came after Israel suffered a dozen deaths and many more injuries from incoming rockets, prompting more Israeli airstrikes.
In Gaza, authorities said nearly 200 people, including many children, had been killed in the Palestinian enclave since the latest Israeli-Palestinian fighting began some ten days ago.
Biden asked Netanyahu to move “toward the path to a cease-fire,” according to a White House description of their talks.
Until Wednesday, Biden had avoided pushing the American ally more directly and publicly call for a cease-fire. But the president faced increased pressure from within his Democratic Party amid a mounting death toll.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have called for a cease-fire citing Israel’s overwhelming air power and other military strength.
Israel says Hamas militants use civilians as human shields and hide in high rise buildings, including one used by international media which was destroyed by Israeli strikes.
The Biden administration had relied on what officials described as “quiet, intensive” diplomacy to pressure Israel to wrap-up its attacks against Hamas and other militants.
That approach included quashing a U.N. Security Council statement that would have addressed a cease-fire.
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